Something Good
by Mehian
Summary: A story about two original characters, Echo and Blaze, in the years after they helped Link defeat Ganondorf their adventures, their struggles, and the changes they go through.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: An AU set in Hyrule about two original characters, Echo and Blaze; their adventures, their struggles, and the changes they go through. Echo often wonders how their friendship can stand the strain of Blaze's constant outbursts, while Blaze struggles to control himself and his powers.

Disclaimer: Plot and most of the characters belong to us, everything else doesn't.

A/N - This story is a collaberation of sorts which actually started out at the beginning of the game with Link, but we ended up jumping ahead cause this part was more fun. The beginning might be posted sometime, if we get around to finishing it. It's our first try at fanfiction, hope you like it!

-- 13/11/05 -- update: SG has been edited and reformatted!

Link, Shorty, Blaze and Echo were once adventurers who had endured many trials together. Now they had split up; Link and Shorty left for Termina, while Blaze and Echo stayed in Hyrule. They were both now fourteen, and looked considerably different than they had been before.

Echo was a lithe, dark, and almost wraithlike figure, and very competent in using her powers; Blaze was now almost evil, and used his powers for mischief almost like Dark Link, but he kept some good in him - helped, of course, by Echo's tendency to set him on his arse when he did something inexcusable.

Blaze's sword had almost turned blood red, his harp was almost black and his shield had the devils insignia on it. Blaze had the power of fire, well suited to his hot temper.

Echo's outfit was dark blue and red with the occasional silver bit, and a headband with a pair of blue-metal horns on it. She carried a short sword with a blue suede wrapped handle, in addition to her claws. She had the power of wind.

"So, Blaze," Echo said. "now what?"

Blaze looked thoughtful. "I dunno, I haven't got a clue what to do... Let's go see Zelda."

"We should'a gone with the others... I mean, I thought you and Shorty were gonna go off together!" Echo said.

He smirked. "Well, I was turning evil she was becoming good - it wouldn't have worked."

Echo snorted. "Hah. Well, all for the better, I suppose."

A strange expression crossed Blaze's face.

"Well...ummmm...you ever thought bout us?"

Echo frowned, not really feeling up to doing the whole 'sorry but now' bit right now. "Not once. Sorry, but I really don't think it would work... We're good fighting partners, let's leave it at that for now."

The blond sighed. "Fine... so lets go see Zelda."

Eager to change the subject, Echo jumped up. "Rightio then! What are we goin' for?"

"Maybe she has some stuff for us to do... And maybe she's drunk again."

"Drunk? Haha.. That'd be a score for you, eh?" Echo snickered.

"Look who's talkin'... Hitting on Malon." Blaze ducked as Echo aimed a swat at him.

"Well hey, she was cute! Anyways, lets get going."

Echo used her wind powers to warp them to Zelda.

Blaze shuddered. "I never get used to that." He muttered, rubbing his arms.

Then suddenly Blaze looked and saw Zelda on her bed with someone standing over her. Echo looked over to where Blaze pointed, and confusion flitted across her face.

"What's this?" She asked, confused.

Before Echo could do anything, Blaze suddenly shot an arrow of fire at the mystery man.

Echo gasped and whipped around to face him. "Blaze, sometimes I think you're an idiot. Ask questions first, take action later! I mean, for all we know, he could be a healer -" But she was immediately proven wrong.

Blaze then ducked as the fire came flying back at him

"HOLY SHIT!" Blaze yelled, and his eyes suddenly start glowing red.

"Aww, shit," Echo muttered, "I hate it when he does this."

Suddenly Blaze jumped at the Mystery Man and punched him in the face... And flew back.

"SHIT, ITS GANNON!" He shouted, picking himself up off the floor. "ECHO! Gannon is the only one I can't attack when that happens."

Zelda, in typical female fashion, started panicking. "Oh my god! what's happening?" She shrieked.

"Look up." Blaze said.

Zelda looked up to see Gannon over top of her, and she shrieked again, causing Echo to cover her ears and wince. Blaze said an incantation and Gannon disappeared - then he fell to the ground.

Echo leant over him, a worried expression on her delicate features.

"Blaze! wake up, what did you do? Dammit, someone explain this mess to me!" She demanded, ignoring the fact that there was no one besides her and the ditzy blonde princess in the room.

She noticed his face was pale and his breathing shallow, but other than that he seemed to be fine. Blaze then got up, asking what happened.

Echo explained slowly, still confused. "Your eyes went red and you made Ganondorf disappear, then you passed out - you wanna tell me what's happening?"

"Shit. Only royals can do that. I 've only seen my king do it once." Blaze mumbled.

"What the hell's a royal," Echo growled "and what does this mean,"

"It means... I'm a FUCKING ROYAL!"

"Well, what's so bad about that? You get money and power, every man's dream!"

Blaze scowled at her.

"...Zelda's my Bride to be... King of the Sheikah's son marries King of Hyrule's daughter."

"WHAT?" said daughter yelled indignantly.

"Hahahahaha..." Echo fell to the floor laughing at her friend's unfortunate predicament. "Hey, Zelda, at least it wasn't pretty-boy Link!" She said, still giggling.

"But I can't do it... I - I love someone else," Blaze stammered.

Echo suddenly stopped laughing. "Who?" She asked, not wanting to hear the answer she already knew.

"..You, Echo."

And with that, Blaze ran out of the castle.

Back in the castle...

"Ugh, this is so not fair! I mean, first I find out that I have to marry this idiot, then I find out that he loves you! I mean, how much worse taste can you get?" Zelda cried. She didn't seem to notice that Echo was ignoring her, and continued ranting for quite some time.

Echo sighed, "Just lovely. Guess I should go get him - Zelda, stay here!

Now.. where would he go? Shadow Temple, maybe..?"

She warped to Shadow Temple, arriving in a whirl of wind and shadows, with a touch of mage-fire from her building temper. Though no one seemed to be there, she wasn't fooled.

"Blaze!" She yelled, "Come out and stop brooding."

"NO!" Came the reply. "Leave me to die. I don't want to be royalty."

"What are you going to do, commit suicide? Or are you gonna force me to chain you up and drag you back."

"I'm going to the boss room... Without weapons." The morose voice sounded hopeless, but a spark of defiance was still apparent.

Echo growled. "Like hell y'are!" She stomped over to his hiding place and tied him up securely with wind ropes, dragging him out.

"WHAT THE HELL!" He shouted.

"C'mon, idiot, it's time to take drastic measures. We're gonna sign you up in the army.." Echo muttered while trying to stop Blaze from moving. Blaze evaded her easily, disentangling himself from the invisible ropes. "Are you bloody insane?" He yelled.

Echo kept rambling. ".. I mean, they'll never find you there and it's a perfect way to use all that power.." Then suddenly she stopped, taking into account what Blaze said.

"Well I ain't gonna let you commit suicide and I'm not so cruel as to leave you to marry the ditzy blond, and there's no other options!" She said, a little too cheerful.

"You're wrong." Came the stoic reply.

"Well...what's the other option then?" Echo demanded.

Blaze suddenly kissed Echo. She stood for a moment before gently pushing him away.

"Look, you're gonna have to get over that. You know I'm not gonna suddenly up and tell you I love you, 'cause I don't - I need friends, not lovers. And besides, how's that gonna fix anything?"

Blaze didn't answer her. He stared at the horizon, his eyes distant, before suddenly saying, "We have to go back to my home land."

Echo looked bemused. "Which is..."

Blaze sliced his arm, and his eyes started glowing red. Then, suddenly, him and Echo were in the sheikah home land.

"Well that solves that," Echo said, blinking, "but why are we here?"

"Like I said... I'm royalty." Blaze replied.

"So... you rule, but don't marry Zelda." Echo guessed.

"If it was that easy..."

"What exactly are you planning to do, and how does it involve me?" The black haired girl asked.

"You can train here and unlock your powers," said Blaze,

"Powers?"

"The Powers that are locked inside of you. You have more than one power; I don't know what it is, but you can do something else."

"How do you know?"

"I'm royalty, I can just tell." Blaze said, sounding slightly annoyed.

With that, Blaze left.

Echo wandered around a while, looking for a training room. Instead, she found a kitchen of some sort. She grabbed a small loaf of bread and a jar of strawberry preserve, setting it down on a low bench.

In the middle of her impromptu meal, a huge explosion is heard; but the windmage was far too hungry to pay any sort of attention, assuming she'd hear about it later from Blaze. When people started running by Echo looked up and sighed, figuring she'd better look into this one. She grabbed someone by the shoulder.

"What's happening?" She demanded.

"The Prince just attacked a man trying to kill his father!" The terrified man yelled, and ducked for cover when another explosion was heard.

"Dammit, can't we have a moment of peace around here!" Echo growled. She set off in the direction of the explosion, grabbing her gloves along the way. Suddenly, a man flew past Echo.

"Holy freaking hell!" She shrieked, jumping back.

She saw Blaze and another figure on the hill ahead;

"Gannon - LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER RETURN!" Came Blaze's angry cry. Suddenly, Gannon disappeared!

Blaze hit the ground, bloody and wounded, but victorious. No one stepped forth to help Blaze; no one believed he was the prince. Echo ran forward, then turned to face the people.

"Well?" She yelled, "Don't just stand there! Someone get me a bed, hot water and a towel!"

No one moved.

Such gratefulness is overwhelming, Echo thought angrily as she pulled Blaze up from the ground.

---

Three days went by before Blaze woke up. He left that day, alone. After weeks of searching, Echo had not heard a single word from him, and so she gave up.

---

TBC..

---

Well that was the end of chapter one.. the next chapter will be out soon! Please review and tell us what you think.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow... has it really been two years? That's pretty hilarious. Well, anyway, I got bored one day and decided to edit another chapter of this crazy adventure. Still a collaboration! I just do most of the polishing up )

--

Four years had passed since Blaze left, and Echo was now a skilled warrior. She was out training one day when she heard a familiar voice...

"Echo."

"...Blaze?" She said incredulously, "Where the hell have you been??"

Blaze then showed himself, scared and battered.

"I had to control my powers... I had no strength then." He said softly.

"Well, much as I'm glad to see you, I hope you don't think you can come waltzing back, and everything'll be just fine again!" Echo snapped.

"It will never be fine again." He didn't look sad, just resigned. "I've watched over you for years... I know that the king has a new son, I just came to grab my weapons; Ganonn's back."

Echo snorted. "Huh. Again?" She muttered. "Well, it was nice to see you, I suppose. Guess you'll be off soon, then? You haven't seen Shorty or Link in your travels, have you?"

"Yeah, I have, they're married and have two kids..." He paused. "I need your help. Gannon has taken the triforce from Link and Shorty; we need to combine our powers and stop him."

She stared at him. Finally, she said, "You know I can't just leave."

"I know, but if you change your mind you know were to find me." He said. Then he disappeared out of sight. Echo sighed and shook her head, and went off to pack.

The bloody idiot knows me too well, She thought. She arrived where Blaze was three days later, having taken time to: a) be sure that her garden would be well cared for, b) clean and pack each and every one of her many weapons, c) practice every attack move she's ever learned and recharge her energy-stone, and d) say goodbye to her lover and all her friends - well, they were more like 'acquaintances' but she liked to imagine they were friends.

"So," Blaze began, somewhat awkwardly. "How's it been?"

"Pretty good - life's quiet except for the odd fight." She replied.

"Well, at least your a good fighter now." He said, smirking.

"Damn rights I am!" Echo exclaimed proudly, "I think it's safe to say that I'm a sight better than Link - taking into account the fact that he probably doesn't have any time to practice, what with the kids and all."

Blaze nodded. "Probably."

The conversation wound on slowly as Echo muttered, "So."

"Haven't seen you in a long time," Blaze pointed out.

She frowned. "Well, no fault of mine."

"True..." He sighed. Abruptly, he said, "We have to go and stop Gannon from trying to destroy Hyrule."

Echo looked startled at the sudden change of subject. "What?"

But his attention was suddenly elsewhere. He whipped out a dagger and aimed it behind Echo, and a scream resounded throughout the clearing.

"Shit!" Echo yelled, jumping out of the way.

Blaze stalked into the darkness and dragged out a sheikah. Echo looked stunned.

"He looks familiar..." Blaze said slowly.

"...He does?"

"Yes he does - wait, Sheik?? Zelda... what are you doing here? ZELDA WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???!!!"

Suddenly a bright red light erupted from Blaze's hood, and his sword and shield turned red and began to drip as if coated with blood.

Echo backed away from her friend slowly. "...Blaze?" She said softly.

He was breathing heavily. "I... I thought I got rid of this..." He gasped, "Zelda, I'm sorry..."

He rushed toward Sheik with his sword upraised to attack.

"ECHO RUN!! I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF!!" He cried.

To hell with this, Echo thought, and ran like the devil was at her back.

"Damn, I really shouldn't have left him there," She muttered to herself, "But i'm sure he can take care of himself..."

Suddenly a blood curdling scream emitted from the Shadow Temple... and all Echo heard was a body hit the floor. Blaze walked out, blood soaked, and she turned, her eyes wide.

"You'd better have an explanation."

Blaze removed his hood to reveal fangs and a huge scar.

"The scar is from Gannon," He said, "I tried to take him on - didn't work out well. The fangs - that I cannot explain."

Echo, ever sarcastic at all the wrong moments, snapped, "But what's with the drama and the blood and shit?"

Blaze sighed. "You weren't supposed to see that. I can't control my urges and I'm kind of possessed. I almost wasn't until I got into that fight. Then it happened --"

"...What happened."

Blaze hesitated. "Do you remember in the Temple of Time when your skirt had two slits in it?"

"Um, sure."

"Link did that." He said. "I stopped him, but he tried to kill me... So I said something and when I woke up he was out cold."

"Link made you... possessed?" She asked skeptically.

"Sort of..." He said reluctantly. "He tried to... He tried to...r...rape...you..."

Echo stopped cold. Shock crossed her face but it was gone in a moment. "And I don't remember this, why?" She said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

"You hadn't woken up yet. When I saw that it happened I couldn't control myself and I was almost bloodthirsty - I wanted to kill him... rip his heart out..."

Echo looked rather green, and scowled.

"Are you sure Shorty's safe with him?"

"I warned him," Blaze said, "I warned him that if I ever heard anything or if I ever saw it in her eyes I would kill him. My powers are a lot stronger now, I could fry his ass in a second. Are you ok?" He said suddenly, because Echo was still faintly off-color.

"I'm fine," She snapped, "Just fine."

"No you're not, I can feel it." Blaze said, reaching out a hand to her. She pushed it away.

"You can, huh?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Well that's funny, cause I can't."

"You can't deal with emotions well." Blaze pointed out. Truthfully, but she would never admit it. She stood up and rolled her eyes.

"Good for me - now, what are we going to do about Ganondorf?"

Blaze sighed and let it be. "We have to get our powers to the peak of our strength and then combine them. But - well, it won't do any good."

"Well why are we doing it then??" Echo scowled out of frustration.

"We need one more person."

"Good." She said, smiling satisfactorily. "Let's go get them, then! Knowing you, you probably have someone in mind... Right?"

Blaze paused. "...No... Well, let's sleep on it. Maybe we will think of someone."

"Ok, fine. Let's stay here - I've slept on worse surfaces than this, and it's not likely to rain tonight." She said, looking up at the clear sky.

"No, you'll get my bed." Blaze insisted, "I'll stay out here; just go straight down, it's easy to see."

Night fall came suddenly and the wolves howled at the crescent moon. Echo, stubborn as she was, could be found fast asleep on the moss-covered ground, a knife clutched in her hand. Blaze was not far off, seemingly unable to sleep. Red eyes were open wide, gazing up at the familiar stars. Blaze started to mumble late into the morning, waking Echo up.

Echo yawned. "Wha --?"

"Sorry Echo." He said. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, s'ok though. Have you had any ideas?" She asked.

"No, but I've been remembering something... An incantation, but not all of it." He said, looking puzzled. "Have you ever heard this --"

He spoke the incantation. Echo frowned.

"It sounds familiar..."

"Wierd." He muttered. "Well, I talked to Link and Shorty last night; they've never heard of it before. It feels like I was taught only part of it."

Impatiently, she said, "Well, how is it supposed to help us?"

"Dunno." He shrugged. "Maybe... nah. Nevermind."

"Ok, well I have an idea. I knew someone back when I was younger that might help us."

"Alright, were do we find them?"

Echo grinned. "In the city, of course!"

---

TBC...

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End file.
